Adopted: A one-shot
by imthegingerninja
Summary: Po and Tigress save many children from a dark fate


It was a crisp, autumn day as the two strolled through the leaves.

Sunlight pooled on the ground as Po and Tigress made their way to Bao Gu orphanage. A recent rush of refuges from the northlands had passed through the valley of peace about a month prior, with many families being forced to abandon their sickest or weakest children at the orphanages where they would at least survive.

Tigress was tense most of the journey, she had never been comfortable at the orphanage and hadn't been back since the day she left. The biggest reason she had decided to go with Po to cheer the children up was because she felt bad for the kids. Most of them were like her. Tigers.

The Tigers in the northlands had lived peacefully until the skirmishes broke out, forcing them from their homes and into the valley across the thread of hope. Most of the pigs and geese and rabbits of the villages were startled when their cities and towns started filling up with the big cats.

While most of the small villagers were welcoming of the refugees as their friends and neighbors, they would never adopt one of the tigers into their own home. Tigress had learned this the hard way as a child. She felt sick as she realized the children would learn this as well.

Or so she thought.

Po wouldn't shut up about the 'fun' they were going to have. It was Po's idea to reenact the cooler battles he'd fought so the kids could watch, and he'd hauled along a backpack full of action figures he planned to give to the children. Tigress had watched Po spend nearly a week carving each and every one of the action figures so that the kids would each get one. It was quite impressive.

Tigress' thoughts soon turned to the massive building looming up in front of them. A pair of huge doors stood between her and some very unpleasant memories. Po seemed to sense her trepidation.

"It'll be fine!" he said "Besides, the new headmistress is really nice." This made Tigress feel a bit better. The old headmistress of Bao Gu was not too kind of a woman, and had locked Tigress into her room out of fear.

The doors swung open and there was a loud cheer from the children. Tigress and Po were soon swarmed by a mob of orange-and-black kittens. The youngest couldn't have been older than two, and the oldest was a sad looking boy who's paws were gone from frostbite in the mountains. He looked about fourteen.

"Hi, everyone!" Po said as he lifted the pack off his back and started handing out the toys. The children beamed and laughed, probably the first time they'd done so in a while.

Tigress watched with a smile. Someone pulled on the edge of her sleeve.

She looked down to see a small fox with incredibly large ears looking up at her. "Hello, Master Tigress." She said with a bow. "I'm Qi Fang, the new Headmistress." Tigress returned the bow.

"I understand you had… trouble… when you lived here as a child." Qi said. Tigress just nodded quietly.

The two said nothing for a moment as they watched Po play with the children. They seemed to be having a blast. Qi nodded.

"I hope to give these children the best life they can have. It just worries me that no one will adopt them." She shook her head "The villagers of this valley are generally kind, but these cats do get… big…" she smirked as she took in Tigress' lanky figure.

"My biggest worry though…." She started again. "Is the older ones. Very few of the teenagers have ever been adopted, and especially since they're tigers. I don't want to have to send them to the fields to work, but we've been so short-funded as of late-"

Tigress kneeled down to face Qi "What did you say?".

Qi sighed "When the children get too old to be adopted or the orphanage runs out of money, we have to have some of them out working. It's a sad fact of life out here."

Tigress glanced toward the boy with no paws. She imagined that poor kid trying to work in the fields.

No.

She wouldn't let that happen.

Tigress stood back up and turned to Po "We need to talk."

"HOW MANY?" Shifu asked.

"Fourteen." Tigress answered blandly as she sipped her tea. Po was sitting next to her and across from Shifu, nursing a black eye he'd acquired on the long trip back. He'd tripped over Lin multiple times because she couldn't walk yet, but didn't want to be carried.

Shifu sighed. "You two will be taking care of them. Not me."

"Of course." Po said, glancing out the window.

Ever single one of the orphans was out in the courtyard playing. From youngest to oldest they were Lin, Huang, Fa, Mu, Nai, Zhong, Ziu, Tia, Ren, Li, Mao, Kang, Fan, and Dai Yu. One of them was running around with a knife while another was trying on a suit of armor that was much too large for her tiny frame.

There was plenty of space in the Jade Palace for the new children. The Furious Five had hurriedly set up cots and beds for the newcomers, and had welcomed them with open arms. Even Shifu was growing fond of them.

Finally, after multiple bedtime stories and about five request for glasses of water, the cubs were asleep in their cots – except for Fa, who preferred to sleep on the ground for some reason.

Tigress and Po watched them through the door.

"It's going to be a lot of work, you know." Po said.

"Like herding cats." Tigress replied with a smirk.

"Do you think we did the right thing, though? There's fourteen of them."

"I think they'll do wonderfully here. Everyone needs love and parents."

"Speaking of which, who's going to tell my Dads that they're grandfathers now?"


End file.
